Prop. C team calls for investigation of Prop. D

The campaign behind Proposition C – the pension reform measure backed by Mayor Ed Lee – is calling on the Ethics Commission to investigate how the competing Prop. D got on the ballot. As part of its ongoing viral campaign, the Prop. C team has set up a petition on change.org asking for an investigation and put another political ad up on You Tube called “Lies”.

At issue is the hidden camera investigation by the Prop. C team conducted over the summer that showed signature gatherers working to qualify Prop. D for the ballot saying the measure would prevent nighttime parking meter charges or ensure city workers had better retirement benefits. Actually, it would make changes to the city’s skyrocketing pension system, mostly through requiring city employees to pay more of their salaries into a pension fund.

Public Defender Jeff Adachi, who crafted Prop. D, said there are plenty of formal ways the Prop. C team could have filed a complaint back in July when the issue first arose. Instead, he said, they’ve waited months to call for an investigation shortly before election day. He added that not one person who signed the petition to qualify Prop. D for the ballot has asked that his or her signature be removed.

“They’re a little bit late,” Adachi said. “This is just a continuing effort to distract voters from looking at the merits of the propositions and seeing the fact that Prop. D is a superior solution.”